Mower County transcript., 1887-11-30
SINGULAR ANIMALS.
The Sloths, nArmadillos and Great Ant.
Eaters Of South America.

| The Sloths, nArmaGli and Great Ant.
Eaters Of South America.
Australia has its ornithorhynchus
and its kangaroos, and New Zealand
its wingless birds. Another example
of this partial distribution Of animals
is found in South America, which is
exclusively the home of the sloths,
armadillos, - and great ant-eaters.
These sluggish animals belong to the
order Edentata (toothless). which is SO
called from the fact of its members
having no true teeth. J. -,
The strangest thing about the sloths
is that they pass their whole life hang
ing from the branches of trees with
their backs downward. The structure
of the body is especially fitted for this
peculiar position, and scarcely admits
of any other; so the sloths hang there
day and night, even while they Sleep.
trusting to the grasp of their strong,
curved claws.
Sloths feed upon the leaves and
young shoots of trees, and rarely de-
scend to the ground if they can avoid
doing so. In a dense forest they can
readily swing from the branches of
one tree to another to find fresh sup
ply of food, and in thus changing their
abode they often take advantage of
time when the boughs are swayed to
and fro by the wind. But so great is
their aversion to coming to the ground.
that when the trees are standing too
far apart to be reached in this ingeni-
Gus manner, the sloths will devour.
every particle of foliage on the tree
upon which they are hanging before
they leave to climb into another.
These singular animals are clothed
with dull, thick hair, much the color of
the bark and moss; so they are with
difficulty distinguished among the
leafy branches, and are much safer
than on the ground, where they have
great: difficulty in walking, as their
curved feet and long claws prevent
their treading fairly on the bottom of
the foot. For this reason they are
obliged to step ON the inside of the foot,
and the sole is turned toward the body.
Owing partly. to this defect, and partly
to the fact that their fore limbs are
much longer than the hind ones, their
gait is extremely slow and laborious.
Seen under these. circumstances, the
sloths appear to deserve the name they
have received; but when really at home
in the tree-tops of their native forests
they climb about among the branches
with great ease, and their movements
are not then particularly slothful.
Armadillos, ON the other hand, are
burrowing animals, and their strong
claws are used for digging in the earth.
These creatures are chiefly remarkable
for their thick coat of mail, which con-
sists of hard bony plates united at their
edges. One of these plates covers the
head, another the shoulders. and a
third protects the hinder parts of the
body, while between these last two
shields there is a number of movable
plates of the same bony material ex-
tending around the body like bands,
and allowing it to bend freely. When
these animals are attacked they bur-
row rapidly into the ground. Some
species roll up into ball, thus securely
protecting themselves. At such times
the head and tail are drawn close to-
gether, and tucked snugly into a little
crevice where the two extremities of
the shell meet, and the result is hard.
solid ball, which may be rolled about
and trampled upon without injury.
Still another phase of life is shown
by the great ant-eater, an animal four
or five feet in length, with a large
bushy tail, which is sometimes thrown
over his body as shade from the sun,
or which may also be used to protect it
from the cold. Its long jaws are cov-
cred with skin, except at the end,
where there is an opening through
which the worm-like tongue is thrown
out. The ant-eater, as we'll as the
sloth, has curved claws, and it also
walks upon the side of it's foot. This
curious animal feeds almost entirely
upon white ants. 1t tears open the ants
nests with its strong claws, and as the
inmates rush forth from their hiding
place in alarm, the huge invader thrusts
out its long, sticky tongue, and swal-
lows the multitude of ants adhering to
it. This operation is repeated again
and again with surprising rapidity,
and large quantities of ants are de-
voured
Not only is this order of toothless
animals peculiar to South America in
the present day, but here are found
likewise most of the fossil remains of
extinct animals of this type. Some Of
these fossils are interesting from their
great size. The megatherium, for in
stance, was an immense sloth-like ami
NAL eighteen feet in length, with bones
as massive as those of the elephant, and
the glyptodon resembled large arma-
dillo, except that it had no transverse
bands in it's shield The body was
covered with one large plate of bone
shaped like turtles shell, and the
| plvntndon rnrst c0nsenuenflv have been